


Spyfall: Battle for Humanity

by embarrassingresultofmyfreetime



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other, Plot, Role Reversal, Roleswap, Roleswap AU, Spydoc, Thoschei, and also get into a fist fight lol, idk how to tag sorry about this mess, it starts out with the same premise as Spyfall but then I change a bunch of things so it's better, it's based on the canon and actually plot driven, role swap au with my favs: Dhawan!Doctor and Whittaker!Master
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:14:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27651881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embarrassingresultofmyfreetime/pseuds/embarrassingresultofmyfreetime
Summary: This is a little number I like to call: Roleswap AU with Dhawan!Doctor and Whittaker!MasterIt's sort of a rewrite of Spyfall p2 but it's better.[Highlights include: the Doctor NOT leaving the Master to the whim of Nazis, the Doctor explaining to Ada and Noor why he has to erase their memories, Ada and Noor actually play a valuable role in the story and actually bonding with the other characters, the Doctor doesn't forget about his fam, the Kasaavin actually make a bit of sense, the Doctor actually shows real and valid emotion regarding the Master, there’s an actual fight at the end, and much more]
Relationships: The Doctor & The Master (Doctor Who), The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who)
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Every version of the Doctor was different- but this version felt a world away from anyone the Doctor had ever been before.

So many deaths, so many mistakes, and the haunting feeling that he should have died lives ago- it had all taken their toll and this time it shaped him into someone completely new.

The 13th Doctor was a simple man who took every new breath with an air of hope that he might live to take another. He knew how lucky he was to be alive when so many others were not- and he was not about to waste this chance to try again. This time around, he was determined to get it right.

This Doctor was no longer The Time Lord Victorious or The Oncoming Storm or anything resembling who he used to be. After getting so many people killed, the Doctor had buried that dark part of him deep down where it would- with any luck- never see the light of day again.

He now focused only on the present and what _could_ be done. No grand sweeping displays, no showcases of his abilities, none of that. He was alive and doing just a little more good than harm.

That's all he wanted.

The Thirteenth Doctor was a kindhearted man who wore the same pale-blue collared shirt almost every day, without ever bothering to use the top two buttons, and always had on some purple sweater that didn't quite fit his shoulders by design. He wore a soft light-blue coat that was just a little too big for him and brown shoes that were actually glorified slippers.

He was a man who finally stopped to appreciate the simple pleasures of life. He liked soft fabrics and fresh tea and books by the shelf-full. He liked to keep his hair well-groomed and his flawless beard trimmed short and sharp.

His overall complexion was different too. A slightly darker skin tone, a smaller body than the last several of his past selves, and a softer, fuller figure was a sudden change from the tall, lengthy, high-reflective-white he was used to. Fortunately, his most recent self felt comfortable in his new form from day one, which wasn't always true for most past selves. It felt as though his personality and physical form had aligned quite wonderfully this time around and he welcomed the change he hadn't known he needed.

He had bright brown eyes that had hints of amber when the sunlight struck them just right and a warm but dorky smile that was always ever-so-slightly off-center.

He wasn't without his flaws either, he knew. Sometimes his humor was too flat for outside parties to distinguish as a joke or not, he had the occasional habit of letting his anger out sharply in a pinch, and he had certain pet peeves that he simply could not tolerate no matter the circumstances.

On a good day he was the kindest man a person could ever hope to meet. On a bad day he was merciless- not with anger, but with apathy. All the death and darkness he'd seen was bound to catch up with him eventually, and this time it took the form of a freezing numbness.

Even despite his imperfections, he now had a human family who accepted him. The Doctor knew nothing good could come from taking them along with him, but he couldn't help himself. It had been such a terribly long time since he'd felt part of a family, and he needed them to help him keep his head on right.

Not to mention, one of them had died on his watch while trying to stop a bounty hunter. The very least he could do was repay the remaining humans in the only currency he had: adventure.

And then there was the Master. Easily the most powerful version they had ever been. She had been through war and fell prey to her own people using her by torturing her from the inside out. She'd survived the drums, she'd been rejected by her only friend, she'd tried to become a better person only to be left to die alone, and now- there was nothing but a raging fire in her hearts.

At long last, she had found the truth of the Time Lords. She had uncovered that the Doctor was a stranger from who-knows-where who had been used to build the Time Lords from the ground up. The Doctor was the foundation, and the Master was nothing but a stepping stone. She had been used only as means to an end.

It made her furious. The anger burning inside of her was more than it had ever been. She'd tried everything else, being both a force for good as well as evil- and now she knew this was all she would ever be.

After all these many years, she had resigned to her fate.

She knew now that there would be no redemption for her. She understood that she was nothing more than an experiment made to serve a purpose. She knew all of this, and she would prove the Time Lords wrong if it was the last thing she did.

She was the Master. She was smarter and stronger than anyone had ever believed her to be and anyone she had ever been before. She had been broken time and time again, and all those centuries of pain only became the fuel for her unfaultering rage.

The way the Master saw it: the Time Lords had tortured her and the Doctor all their lives- they deserved their rightful punishment.

And the Master had delivered it. She had killed them and- in the process- destroyed everything they ever were.

It felt right to her. Like bringing about their end was some kind of mission that only she could carry out.

It felt... just. It felt objectively correct. As if she had been created for the very purpose of carrying out this act.

It felt as though it made some sort of strange, poetic sense. That if the Doctor had started all of this, then the Master was meant to finish it. It felt like the Master had finally done what she had been _made for_.

It felt good. It felt... right. And the Master couldn't wait to tell the Doctor all about it.

Playing dress-up as the innocent, socially awkward, helpful MI6 agent O had been so much fun. The Master loved moving up to the freezing northern Canada and living out of her Tardis disguised as a cabin. She _loved_ playing games with the Doctor. She loved reading his persistent, rambling texts. She loved the long evening hours they had spent on the phone talking about nothing and everything like they were kids staring up at the stars all over again.

She- as O- had met the Doctor _life times_ of his ago, but it wasn't until the Doctor's latest life that the Master knew the perfect opportunity was at hand.

A _sweet_ Doctor, a Doctor who played human better than any other, one who wanted a human family and appreciated little _human_ things about being alive. He gave warmest hugs and the most genuine compliments and appreciated every flower he walked past.

What a dork. So why was he the Master's favorite?

Because of the other side of him.

The side which contrasted his loving warmth with the coldest apathy. He was the kindest- and in return, the fastest to raise his defences. He was all gentle laughs and soft touches up to the second his humans were threatened- and then his real colors showed through.

It was clearest when his humans weren't around to sway him. The way he looked at his enemies with the eyes of someone so far gone was the Master's favorite detail. The Doctor never inflicted injury, but it was easy to see that he would kill with his bare hands if that's what it took to keep his fake little family safe.

He hadn't been pushed that far yet, but the Master couldn't wait to see it.

The Master only got to see a glimpse of the Doctor's darker side on occasion- but when she did, she knew that _this_ was the version of the Doctor who would finally know the truth.

The Master couldn't wait to break him, to press his buttons just so, and to finally _finally_ convince him to kill her and unleash a final spell of death across Gallifrey.

All she had to do was arrange the pieces in their proper places so one day, very soon, she could watch the dominos fall....

The Doctor had been so busy chasing down the latest unethical tech billionaire that he had never stopped to realize who O really was.

It was in the middle of a crashing plane that he finally realized one of the many cracks in the Master's facade- and the Master had never been more excited to reveal her true self.

Everything leading up to her reveal was absolutely worth the wait just to see the look on the Doctor's face. All that shock and anger that slipped past his defences. That fear, that familiarity, the recognition; everything.

It gave the Master a high like no other.

"I met Oh," the Doctor gasped as if his open hearts weren't breaking wide open, " _years_ ago."

"I know," the Master had grinned before she fell into manic laughter.

It had been a meeting the Master would never forget after all. The Doctor, with that brilliant mind of his, looking his oldest friend dead in the eye and yet not realizing who she was. The Master had known right then and there the fastest way to ruin him. She was surprised she had never thought of it before.

She could slip past the Doctor's defences, work her way into who he was, get those same old hearts to care about her all over again; to downright fall for her, before finally revealing who she was.

And it had worked _perfectly_.

It worked like a charm from the sight of the Doctor, all panicked and confused and calculating how the only human he had given his most authentic self to could possibly be the one person he already had the strongest feelings for. How they could possibly be one in the same. How the Master could possibly do this to him.

The Master only laughed and beamed and clapped her hands with uncontrolled excitement.

"I have had _so_ much fun!" the Master beamed with the brightest smile on her face.

"I don't get it. Who is she, Doc?" one of the humans asked.

"You may call me, Master," she grinned with the widest of evil grins.

"I'm his best enemy!"

And the rest was history.

Literally.

The Master chased the Doctor all through time.

The time for waiting was over. The Doctor was going to know what she had done if it killed them both.

(And with any luck, it would. But all in good time.)

"Ladies and Gentleman!" the Master announced her presence in the enormous front room of a gallery in the 1830s.

There was no waver in her voice, no shake of her hands. She knew exactly what she wanted and exactly what she would do to get it. There was no more of Missy's _almost_ morals. There was no playfulness of the Master she had been before Missy either.

There was only the Master she was now and she knew _exactly_ what she was doing.

"Hands on your heads," she demanded, a threatening device in her hand and dressed in the best evening wear the 1830's had to offer.

"Miss, you can't just-"

The Master zapped him before he could finish his sentence. The beam shrunk the human who had spoken out of turn to the tiniest christmas ornament.

"Hands. On. Your. Heads!" the Master demanded.

"Leave these people alone and you can have me. I know that's what you want," the Doctor reasoned cautiously.

The Master could practically feel the Doctor's own hearts racing from across the room. She would love to keep that feeling forever, the feeling of the Doctor's hearts racing in time to her own. She'd almost forgotten how much she'd missed that.

The Master only grinned and stepped up to face him. She scanned his face over with her eyes and smirked softly.

"I have you anyways."

The Master passed him by and approached another innocent human just to prove her point. She needed to cleanse the Doctor of seeing her as O after all and remind him exactly what the _Master_ was capable of.

"Did you just move?" she asked a young woman.

The woman nervously shook her head. The Master burst out laughing, all full of rage that fueled her every energetic movement.

"Ah, my mistake!" she laughed.

She looked the Doctor dead in the eye as she zapped the woman with her TCE. The lady fell to the floor like a tiny figurine that belonged in a music box.

The Doctor's eyes turned cold and _there_ it was! There was the reaction the Master wanted!

"What do you want?" the Doctor asked colder than before.

The Master walked up to him and considered this for a moment. She soaked up every second. She had been waiting so very long for him to ask.

"Kneel," she decided.

Yes, that was what she wanted first. There would be no more running for him. He would stop and finally _listen_ to what the Master had to say.

The Doctor rolled his eyes but slowly he took a knee, and then two.

"Call me by my name," she asked.

She needed to hear it now before anything else. Ages of being called 'O' and terrible other names given by the MI6 agents who didn't respect her. Ages of being called 'Miss' and 'Ma'am' by other humans. Ages of having to be someone she was not.

She needed the Doctor to tell her that she was still her old self. That he _recognized_ who she was and would not forget it again.

"Master," the Doctor said firmly.

He shook his head gently and looked to the floor, scolding himself,

"I should have known."

The Master took one knee and caught the Doctor's eye as she moved down to his level.

The creator of the Time Lords? Perhaps. But he was still the Doctor _the Master_ knew. She refused to let him pretend he was somehow better than her.

"Yes, you should have. You would have saved yourself a lot of pain if you had," the Master teased.

The Doctor's eyes fell away from her again and the Master was almost proud that he couldn't look her in the eye.

Still. On to bigger and better things. After a beat, she continued,

"How long has it been since you've gone home?"

The Doctor's eyes widened just enough to be noticeable as they snapped up to meet her own. The Master would normally grin, but the topic was too dark to amuse even herself.

"Why?" he asked with a controlled fear that the Master knew well.

The Master let out a small breath of amusement and grinned once more. Yes, right in his eyes was a pain well reflected in her own. One that was still scared of the Time Lords and what they could do to renegades like the two of them.

It nearly made the Master laugh because very soon, he would realize that the Time Lords were a thing of the past. He should be _much_ more terrified of the Master and maybe even more of himself.

"You should really take a look," the Master beamed.

The Doctor paused for a moment, but then shook his head. He was recalibrating himself, it was easy to see. He was filing the Master's threats away for later and attempting to refocus himself on the task at hand.

"The Kasaavin, what are they?" he asked.

The Master's smile fell. This was about _her!_ _She_ had set this all up for them! Humanity should be the _least_ of his concerns.

The Master leaned her arms on her knee and lowered her face to his.

"They're not who you should be worried about right now," she hissed.

Suddenly a new voice cut through the Master's threat.

"Doctor! Down!" a woman called.

The Master looked up to see who it was as the Doctor ducked his head.

A bullet cut clean through the Master's shoulder and she stood up as she recoiled from it. She looked down at the wound for only a second and by the time she looked up again, the Doctor and some young humans were bolting out the door.

The Master let out a low growl of anger, zapped anyone who turned to look at her, and stumbled away to return to her Tardis.

The Master could only track the Doctor down with about a 6 month margin of error and hated every second of where they'd ended up. Paris... during World War Two. Of all the places and wars to end up in, this was one of the lowest on the Master's list.

Worst of all, she couldn't move about the Earth safely without a disguise. She usually loved disguises- but she took no pleasure in this one.

Humans. They were terrible, but the Master hated these ones most of all. There was no panache to their murder sprees. There was just pointless fire and death and god the _smell_. She hated it. And still, she needed to infiltrate their primal communication.

If _she_ was having this tough of a time, she only hoped she could track the Doctor down before he got himself killed. Why- of _all times-_ would he end up _here_.

The Master took on a disguise- as a white human man of course, seeing as it was safest at this point in time- and infiltrated the sorry excuse for a human stain of those in power.

All of Paris- and she had to find ONE Doctor.

The Master put on the hat and coat- and tried her best not to think too much about what they symbolized- and went out to the home of every 'significant' human of the time. There were technology developers, there were code crackers galore, there were radio operators and martyrs and she _hated every second_.

She'd commanded her unit to shoot up the floorboards of a to-be-famous radio operator out of frustration.

The Master was surprised, and somewhat relieved, when a familiar and deliberate series of taps was received over a telegraph. The Master immediately shut her book and shoved the latest idiot manning the phones out of the way.

1 2 3 4.

She waited once more just to be sure.

1 2 3 4.

Finally her wait was over.

She tapped back, a little too quickly: 1 2 3 4.

Her mind reached out to answer the Doctor's call.

' _Old school,_ ' the Master observed fondly.

' _You're not the only one who can do classic,_ ' the Doctor smiled, referring to the Master's TCE device. An ancient trick really.

' _How are you holding up?_ ' the Master flirted grimly, ' _No friends, no Tardis, none of your foolish hope left in this terrible day and age? Running like you always do? Pray tell, I could use a laugh._ '

The Master could feel the familiar echo of something amused in the Doctor's voice as he replied.

' _Alright. I'll meet you,_ ' the Doctor said as if he knew it was what the Master wanted, ' _You have me cornered anyways. No troops. No soldiers. Just us._ '

The Master agreed to his terms of service.

' _Fine. Where?_ '

She could practically feel the Doctor's smile as if it were her own, ' _Where do you think?_ '

The Master nearly laughed, ' _Be careful._ '

The Master hesitated as she realized she'd spoken without even thinking about it.

She was surprised to hear something a little sad and yet hopeful in the Doctor's voice as he replied, ' _You too._ '

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I heard Sacha Dhawan would like to play the Doctor and I AGREE.
> 
> Anyway, here's where I over explain my writing:  
> So I've been wanting to rewrite Spyfall because, yunno, "It's good, but it's not GREAT".  
> I like a lot of the ideas but- and this is just me- the plot really falls apart if you look at any piece of it for too long. And the end is just so anticlimactic. And god what the hell were the Kasaavin even supposed to be?!  
> So for this fic, it begins with some of the same ideas, so you can fill in the gaps of how things go down.  
> In Spyfall p1: spies are hurt, the Master plays the Doctor for a fool, big reveal at the end, ect  
> I mostly just didn’t want to rewrite a lot of set up, so I started this fic at Spyfall p2 because that's where it really gets interesting.
> 
> Dh!Doctor and W!Master - in this work- are basically variations of their canon counterparts.  
> Canon-13 is very energetic, can be very warm and caring, but also she can be very harsh and even cold and distant when she needs to protect her fam or herself.  
> Meanwhile canon-Dh!Master has found out the truth in the Matrix and he is absolutely furious about it. He’s stronger than ever before and yet feels inferior because of who/what the Doctor really is. He’s resigned to his fate and he believes that the only thing left for him is to break the Doctor so he can drag her down to his level (which is so terribly low at this point) and convince her to kill them both in a blaze of glory.
> 
> So the biggest change in this roleswap is basically that Dh!Doctor realizes that he’s being too harsh a second before it’s too late in the next chapter- and that small change has a ripple effect through the entire rest of the story. And I’m sure you can guess what it is, so I digress.
> 
> Please let me know what you think! I LOVE the idea of Dhawan!Doctor and Whittaker!Master, but the stories I’ve seen of them are far and in between so, uh, I did my best lol
> 
> (Last thing I swear: I know the italicize is a bit weird on this site so lmk if you'd prefer it to be underlined or bolded instead or something. thanks)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> continuation of the same. I just don't like to put more than 5k or so in the same chapter bc it can be rough on mobile users lol

The dance was as familiar as ever. The Doctor finally saw the Master for who she was and the Master returned the favor.

It was the same old same old. A reference to a piece of history from their past lives, a "How's the shoulder?" to check that the Master getting shot had been nothing serious- even though it actually hurt very, very much. That the Kasaavin were from another dimension lying in wait before the slaughter they would bring, how the Master had managed to hold such a high position during a time when women weren't allowed to do such a thing, the Doctor's dismay at her outfit, the Master rolling her eyes because it wasn't as if she had _chosen_ this- it was the _Doctor_ who had gotten himself stuck in this time. But she didn't mention that last bit.

And finally, _finally_ : the main event.

"When did you last go home?" the Master asked again when the conversation had made room for it.

She refused to be interrupted this time.

She had told the Doctor that they weren't who they believed to be back on the plane. The Master couldn't believe the Doctor hadn't yet asked what she'd meant.

The Doctor simply wasn't buying it.

The Master told him of their home, of it destroyed beyond compare. She was building up the events in his mind. Pushing him closer and closer to asking who could have done this. She was getting close- and yet it seemed to be the furthest thing from the Doctor's mind at the moment.

"Troops will be coming up the stairs any minute," the Doctor said abruptly. The Master recognized that cold, almost blank, look in his eyes.

The Master caught him by the throat in an outburst of rage and pushed him back against one of the support beams. She pinned him good and tight.

"What the hell does THAT mean?!" she demanded.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," the Doctor said as the Master allowed him just enough room to breathe, "reveal you as a British informant, force you to the correct side of history. But I didn't realize... I only NOW realize... what they'll do to you."

The Master lifted him up by the jaw. The Doctor's soft shoes lifted a noticeable amount off the ground but his eyes stayed cold.

"You think I can't swat a few flies? I've been stuck here _waiting_ for you, listening to the transmissions for any mention of an _idiot_ Doctor causing a fuss in case I had to come save your stupid life, and THIS is how you repay me!?"

The Doctor coughed beneath her furious grasp but a spark of something gentle returned to his empty eyes. His hands that had been furiously attempting to pry the Master's fingers from his throat suddenly fell still over her black gloves.

"You-You're dressed like that because you were looking for me?" he asked as life slowly returned to his cold exterior.

"Why else would I be dressed like this?!" the Master shouted furiously, "No one in their right mind would spend time here by choice! No one would do what I've done unless they had to in order to keep themself safe!"

The Doctor wheezed under her grasp and for a second, the Master nearly forgot what she was talking about.

After a moment, the Master slowly returned the Doctor to his feet. His shoes hit the metal flooring with a dull thud and he paused to pull himself together. The Master found herself doing the same.

The Master spun around at the familiar sound of boots suddenly stomping up the stairs. She grabbed the Doctor's hand before she could think any better of it and pulled him along to the lift.

"We'll finish this in the 21st century!" the Master snapped to remind the Doctor that he wasn't off the hook yet.

The Doctor looked at her with those same beautifully lovestruck eyes he had once looked at O with. The Master simply shoved him into the lift and pressed the down arrow.

The troops made it to the top of the stairs faster than predicted. They immediately began to shoot through the doors of the lift and directly through the thin metal of the small box.

The Master knew she must finally be losing it as she pushed the Doctor against the far back corner and shielded him with her own body.

The lift was already partially lowered by the time the shooting began, and the bullets made a nice pattern beginning near the middle of the back wall and scattered upwards until the ceiling of the box passed them by.

The Master staggered backwards once the bullets had stopped, but she didn't regret her actions for a second. She'd already gotten shot back in that steam powered gallery of useless inventions. Sure the Doctor deserved his just desserts, but the Master didn't have the patience to deal with the Doctor getting shot right now. That was as much as she could reason anyways.

The Doctor quickly reached for the Master as she pulled away.

"Did you get hit? Let me see-"

The Master shoved him away.

"You weren't too worried back in 1834," the Master refused as she winced.

The bullet had hit on her left side between her middle ribcage. Luckily, she was smart enough to be wearing a bulletproof vest which had stopped the bullet from breaking her skin. It would only leave an agonizing bruise- but the Doctor didn't know that.

The Master winced at the injury and let out a small groan of anger. She would be fine. She had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

The Master looked out the window to see the lift carriage begin to approach the ground. They didn't have long before they faced an entire unit of armed troops.

The Master pulled off her heavy coat and brought it around the Doctor's shoulders. She then pulled off her hat and shoved it onto his head.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean for that to happen. What are you doing?" the Doctor asked as he lifted the brim of the hat covering his eyes. The Master ignored his protests and pulled the brim of the hat down even further over him.

"Hiding you!" the Master hissed, "Keep your head down. It's dark, so as long as you stay behind me they shouldn't notice you. We're getting out of this terrible decade."

The Doctor looked at her in that terribly kind way he often did. The Master wished he would stop that. She wasn't O anymore and this most certainly was not a kindness. They had a confrontation to get back to and the Master was never going to get to her big reveal if she kept being interrupted.

"Thank you..." the Doctor breathed.

"Shut it," the Master snapped.

For a moment there was no other sound than the creaking of the lift and the engine running the cable.

"Where are we going?" the Doctor eventually asked again.

"To my Tardis. Then to the 21st century. And then you're going to watch as I let the Kasaavin through to this dimension and they erase every human on this wretched planet. And then, only then, will you be left with no choice but to listen to what I have to say."

"That's what this is about?" the Doctor asked in disbelief, "If you wanted to talk you only had to ask-"

"You don't understand," the Master let out a sharp, humorless laugh. "Not yet. But you will."

The Doctor didn't have time to get in another word as the lift hit the ground with a quiet clatter and the doors slid open.

The Master stepped out first, before the doors could even open completely, and pointed up to the top of the tower above them.

"The traitor is still up there! Cut him off at the stairwell, NOW!" she shouted mercilessly.

The troops quickly echoed a nervous 'Yes, Sir!' and raced off without daring to question their superior. Men like them always were so terribly stupid.

The Master grabbed the Doctor's hand and led him away from the huge vehicles of human scum and spotlights searching the tower.

She dragged him down the long alleyways and forced the Doctor behind a large shipment of supplies. She covered his mouth with one hand as a guard passed them by.

"That's disgusting. What did you touch?" the Doctor complained once the Master pulled her glove away.

The Master then stepped out and looked up at the large tower in the distance. She smirked and pressed a button on her remote. There was a lot of fire and screaming as the observation deck went up in flames in the distance.

She grinned up at the ball of fire reflecting in her eyes.

The Doctor stepped out behind her.

"You can't just-"

"Are you really going to defend them?" the Master asked with an amused smile already in her red lips.

The Doctor sighed.

"Alright. Fine. Nazis don't count," the Doctor agreed with the small smile.

The Master's lips broke into a wide grin.

"The humans can rebuild the observation deck anyways," she excused.

For a moment, they stood and watched the fire at the top of the Eiffel Tower erupt and slowly burn out. Debris fell to the stairway and the bodies of some of the worst humans to ever live fell from the deck and the stairs. The lift broke and crushed the rest.

It was horrific and absolutely brutal- but even the Doctor couldn't disagree that they deserved it.

The Doctor finally took the Master's hand and pulled her away from the sight.

Once back in the Master's Tardis, the Master stared down the two humans the Doctor had collected as she piloted them all back to the 21st century.

The Doctor shed the disguise at the door and promised his new pets that the Master would do them no harm.

"Why is he here?" the newer one asked, clearly knowledgeable of the suit and medals decorated on the Master's attire. The Master, of course, hadn't actually earned any of them- but these humans didn't know that.

"Who is this?" the other, in the even more ancient dress, asked the Doctor.

The Master pulled off her perception filter disguise- a necklace that changed her appearance and voice- and put it into her pocket.

"I am the Master. You will address me as Master or sir and nothing else. And _you_ -" the Master pointed to the smaller woman with the large hoop dress and hissed, " _shot me!_ "

"You!" the woman from the gallery gasped.

"How did you do that!" the other woman asked, whom's floor boards the Master had been responsible for shooting up, "I thought you were a man!"

"Your concept of gender means nothing to me. All you need to know is that _I_ am the Doctor's best enemy and you will stop interfering if you know what's good for you," the Master stated furiously.

The humans both kept their distance.

The Doctor stepped up to the middle of the room, with the humans on one end and the Master on the other standing over the controls. They soon took off and entered the time stream.

"Ada, Noor, this is the Master, my oldest friend," the Doctor introduced them.

"As I explained: in the 21st century- an alien race, a tech inventor, and a renegade from my home planet are attempting to wipe out humanity. I was on my way back to the 21st century before I was thrown off course. But that's alright, we'll be there any second now," he promised them.

"And once we get there, we'll save Earth, stop the invasion, save my fam, and I'll return you both back to your own times!"

"What's to keep us from stopping this Master right here?" Ada asked.

The Master grinned with a deep scowl and her teeth bared like a predator.

"I'd like to see you try!" she threatened.

The Doctor quickly shook his head, for once willing to defend the Master.

"Consider us at a stalemate. None of us can do anything about the 21st century until we _get back to_ the 21st century," the Doctor explained. "Until then, let's be civil."

The humans appeared to decide that was reasonable enough and looked outside to the beautiful stardust-like swirls of the timestream.

The Doctor simply approached the Master and helped her pilot them to the 21st century. It was actually quite nice to have a copilot for once, they both decided independently. They worked at it in silence.

The large still-house-like ship finally stopped in the middle of an empty lot in an english park.

"This isn't over," the Master threatened. "Don't expect me to be merciful, my dear."

The Doctor smirked.

"I wouldn't ask for it any other way. Might I give you a kiss before I go?"

The Master nearly chuckled.

"Decades of knowing O, and you're going to ask me _now_?"

"Consider it a thank you," the Doctor clarified.

"You shouldn't try to warm up to me. You have no idea what I have planned for you," the Master simply warned.

The Doctor gave a sad little smile but the words that left his lips were as gentle as ever.

"I know."

"Then what are you waiting for?" the Master's scowl shifted into an amused smirk.

The Doctor chuckled and pressed a gentle smile to the Master's cheek.

The Master's eyes closed for a second until the Doctor pulled away.

"I won't be merciful either. I won't let you hurt the humans," the Doctor replied.

"I wouldn't ask for it any other way," the Master grinned.

The Doctor gave something of a warm smile, but there was something mournful in his eyes.

The Master didn't ask why as he soon called for the others and left.

The Master heard the Doctor cheerfully introduce the humans to the 21st century- same as ever. Once they were gone, the Master started her Tardis up again and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact about this chapter. I originally wrote a nearly identical version of this exact scene a bit after spyfall with 13 and Dh!Master escaping the Eiffel Tower instead of what happened in the canon. And I didn't really think about it until I was writing this bit as I was like PERFECT I can use those ideas for this instead!  
> And I made a few other changes as well of course, but I think it actually fits a bit better this way around for some reason so yeah. I'm really happy with this scene in particular lol
> 
> (Also DO NOT try to start shit in the comments. I WILL just delete them. There will be NO tolerating ANY pr0-n*zi shit here)


End file.
